Doing a Simple Divorce in Texas Without a Lawyer

Going through the process right now. It's fairly amicable but we are not agreeing how to divide one asset...the house. We paid off our mortgage years ago and neither one of us wants to go out ad get a new one. I want to sell it and just split the proceeds so that we can both go and pay cash for something new. That way neither of us has to take on a new mortgage or rent payment. She doesn't want to sell the house and she doesn't want to buy me out of my half. Except for that everything else is 50/50 with us. Not sure how to work around that without getting lawyers involved. Any suggestions? Originally Posted by tristan

you have to make an agreement on every issue, ot it is a contested divorce. what you could do is agree on everything except that issue, and then pay a lawyer to mediate this one issue for the two of you. If you have to go to court and fight about this issue, every judge is different, but in my experience they will look at a couple things.
1) are there kids? If so, they will want to try and keep those kids in the home if that parent can afford to stay there. you would get your equity from the house, out of some other piece of property.
2) if she is getting kids, but will not be able to afford it, or if there is no other piece of property to get your equity from, then it will be ordered sold with proceeds split after all costs paid.

That has been my general experience.

Charley

you have to make an agreement on every issue, ot it is a contested divorce. what you could do is agree on everything except that issue, and then pay a lawyer to mediate this one issue for the two of you. If you have to go to court and fight about this issue, every judge is different, but in my experience they will look at a couple things.
1) are there kids? If so, they will want to try and keep those kids in the home if that parent can afford to stay there. you would get your equity from the house, out of some other piece of property.
2) if she is getting kids, but will not be able to afford it, or if there is no other piece of property to get your equity from, then it will be ordered sold with proceeds split after all costs paid.

That has been my general experience.

Charley Originally Posted by presidentcharley

Thanks Charley. There are no kids. No joint accounts. Cars, house, bills, debt, everything paid off or not set up jointly. I have a practice in which I carry some small business debt that is mine alone. She just not want to sell the house because she loves it too much. And if we sell and split proceeds she may have to live on a slightly smaller home that she doesn't like as much. If we sell it and split profit we both could pay cash for new homes and not have to take on any sort of mortgage. Told her is she wanted to stay in the house she would just have to pay me FMV for my half. She thinks I should let her stay and I go out and lease or buy on my own. That doesn't sound like equal split to me.

I too enjoy reading Shyster Jon's legal analysis and more often than not I agree with him. I think you should never do anything legal without a lawyer, but assuming I did agree with Jon on this case, I would say a home is a sizeable asset and you should get an attorney to protect your interest in the home.

Books like "File for Divorce in Texas" Sphinx legal, Rolick and Haman

has a CD in the back with every form you could need. Just fill them out and print them. The book explains in detail the whole process.
It's one of the easiest legal issues I have handled myself. Doing my taxes was more time consuming and a bigger headache to be honest. Granted everything was agreed on before hand.

Note: The following is not intended to be a comprehensive guide covering all issues which may arise in a divorce case. I am writing only about a divorce in which: (1) there are NO CHILDREN of the marriage; and (2) there are NO SIGNIFICANT ASSETS (such as a house) belonging to the marital estate. If there are children or a house, or other more complicated issues, it may be best for one or both parties to consult an attorney.

As many of you know, I don't practice family law. (I prefer doing criminal defense because my clients tend to be much nicer than those fighting in family court. Haha.) But having gone through the process twice, and having been approached many times by members of our little community regarding divorce issues, I can offer some tips.

I know it's common to think that you need a lawyer to get a divorce, but you'd need at least $5,000 to hire a qualified lawyer who practices family law to do a divorce in the North Texas area. My view is if the husband and wife don't have children, what they own together is not substantial, and the primary issue is the division of debt, getting a divorce can be a relatively easy process and probably neither party needs to hire a lawyer.

The party seeking the divorce (the "petitioner") would start the process by filing a petition with the District Clerk in the county in which they reside, pay a fee to the Clerk to file the petition and hand-serve it on the other party (if the other party -- the "respondent" -- won't agree in writing to waive service), and draft a final decree.

A person seeking a divorce without a lawyer (that is, a pro se party) should find the free forms on the following web site useful:

TexasLawHelp.org

On this site are all the downloadable forms a person should need to do a basic divorce.

Also, the Texas Young Lawyers Association has published a handbook on doing a pro se divorce. The following is a link to the handbook:

Texas Young Lawyers Association, "Pro Se Divorce Handbook"

This should give a person everything they need to do a simple divorce.

Best of luck! Originally Posted by ShysterJon

If the couple is amicable and their are no children or other valuable assets you can get a divorce in any state without a lawyer. All that a couple really has to do legally is go to the clerk of courts in their jurisdiction and sign a few articles of paperwork pay anywhere from 125-250 bucks and the divorce is final.

UH, not exactly that simple. In Texas, a Judge is going to be needed at some point in that process. Believe it is a bit more expensive as well.

I know in some states the Clerk has a status similar to a judge, but here in Texas, Clerk doesn't sign decrees and orders far as I know.

If the couple is amicable and their are no children or other valuable assets you can get a divorce in any state without a lawyer. All that a couple really has to do legally is go to the clerk of courts in their jurisdiction and sign a few articles of paperwork pay anywhere from 125-250 bucks and the divorce is final. Originally Posted by acp5762

No offense, but that simply isn't the law in Texas. I just looked at the web sites of the district clerks of Dallas, Tarrant, and Collin counties, and there are no links to downloadable forms to do a do-it-yourself divorce (no surprise there, considering that court clerks often tell pro se parties that they can't give legal advice, and supplying a form would be giving legal advice). So it remains that, at minimum, a pro se party would need to prepare and file a divorce petition and have the judge sign a final decree for a divorce to be complete.

Now that doesn't mean they don't do things differently in foreign countries, like Looziana, where I think all the husband has to do is say "I divorce you!" three times in a Cajun accent for him to cut loose the ball and chain.

No offense, but that simply isn't the law in Texas. I just looked at the web sites of the district clerks of Dallas, Tarrant, and Collin counties, and there are no links to downloadable forms to do a do-it-yourself divorce (no surprise there, considering that court clerks often tell pro se parties that they can't give legal advice, and supplying a form would be giving legal advice). So it remains that, at minimum, a pro se party would need to prepare and file a divorce petition and have the judge sign a final decree for a divorce to be complete.

Now that doesn't mean they don't do things differently in foreign countries, like Looziana, where I think all the husband has to do is say "I divorce you!" three times in a Cajun accent for him to cut loose the ball and chain. Originally Posted by ShysterJon

Well yea Texas, Almost like a seperate country, lol.

Shyster,

Not on the clerk's website, but this is on the Tarrant County Website for the family courts...

http://www.tarrantcounty.com/ecourts...a=718&Q=468653

Tarrant County Courts

Information for Self-Represented Litigants
The Tarrant County Family Judges strongly encourage you to hire a lawyer, if possible. Please remember that the court clerks, court staff, and judges want to help you, but they cannot give you legal advice, help you fill out your forms, or tell you what to do. If you proceed without a lawyer, you will be responsible for protecting yourself legally. If you still wish to represent yourself, please consider consulting the following resources:

1. For Divorce Forms
2. For other Family Law Forms
   For Protective Orders
   District Attorney's Protective Order Unit
   Safe Haven of Tarrant County
3. Tarrant County Law Library
4. Legal Aid of Northwest Texas
5. Texas Weslyan Law School Clinic
6. Free Legal Clinics
7. Tarrant County Bar Association
8. How to Conduct Yourself in Family Court
9. Instructions for Handling Your Divorce (with children) in the Tarrant County Family Courts
10. Instructions for Handling Your Divorce (no children) in the Tarrant County Family Courts
11. Parenting Help
12. Conflict Resolution

You can buy a car for $125, it probably won't get where you need to go. In this world, you often get what you pay for, and that includes legal services. If you own property or have children, get a lawyer. There are things that happen in divorces that most people don't think about until often when it's too late.

Retirement accounts such as 401(k)s, pension plans have to be divided. So does debt. People sometimes think that just because an asset or liability is in one of the sponse's name it means it is their separate property or separate debt. This is not the case.

Someone earlier was asking about a jointly owning a house post divorce. This is generally a bad idea and in my opinion generally leads to having to hire a lawyer somewhere else down the road to fix the problem that should have been taken care of during the divorce.

Having represented hundreds of clients in the divorce process, I have a pretty good understanding of what can and does go wrong when people try to do this themselves.

Bottom line, talk to an attorney.

Shyster,

Not on the clerk's website, but this is on the Tarrant County Website for the family courts... Originally Posted by tigercat

Thanks. I didn't think to look for divorce forms under the general heading, "Information for Self-Represented Litigants." But if you click the links on the Tarrant County web site for divorce forms, you go to the web site in my original post: TexasLawHelp.org.

It can be done sans lawyers - even with children and a house. The documents are available at this link. It's not simple and there are a ton of documents to complete, but it is do-able.

Just speaking from my own experience...

She thinks I should let her stay and I go out and lease or buy on my own. That doesn't sound like equal split to me.

Tristan, that cracked me up, because that is exactly what I would hear if I ever have to go through a divorce.

Wife: How about we split everything 50/50, except for the single most valuable piece of community property we have. The one that took us 20 years to pay off. I will take 100% of that.

As Sam Kinnison said, "You know why divorces are so expensive? BECAUSE THEY ARE WORTH IT!!!".

There has been a significant change in Texas regarding simple, uncontested divorces in Texas.

On November 13, 2012, the Texas Supreme Court implemented a uniform set of forms to be used by litigants pursuing uncontested divorces that do not involve children. Although litigants are not required to use these forms, the trial courts of Texas are required to permit their use.

The Dallas County District Clerk now has these forms online to do a simple divorce:

Uncontested Divorce Forms

Tell your wife or husband you love them, but you love hobbying, too. If that doesn't work. consider using these forms. Bon chance!

Will the forms there work for other Texas counties? What if the woman lives in Texas and he lives in another state? She can't go back where she was living thanks to his abuse. This is not for me but for a friend non hobby.